The Senate has passed the 2025 budget with a total figure of N54, 990, 165, 355, 306 trillion naira.
This followed the adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Appropriation on the 2025 Appropriation Bill during plenary on Thursday – earlier today, February 13.
The budget report was initially not included in the business of the day published in the Order Paper but was later included in a supplementary paper.
Chairman of the Committee, Adeola Olamilekan (Ogun West) had earlier laid the report before the Senate. It will be recalled that in December 2024, President Bola Tinubu presented a N49.7 trillion budget proposal at a joint sitting of the National Assembly.
Last week, he notified the lawmakers of an additional N4.5 trillion to the budget figure, raising it to N54.9 trillion, citing increase in revenue generated by the government.
Out of the figure, N3, 645, 761, 358, 925 trillion is for statutory transfers; N14, 317, 142, 689, 548 trillion is for debt service; N13, 064, 009, 682, 673 trillion is for recurrent non-debt expenditure, while the sum of N23, 963, 251, 624, 250 trillion is for capital expenditure.
Earlier, Sen. Adeola urged the president to ensure that the budget is presented to the Parliament at least 3 months to the end of the current fiscal year to enable the country to return to a January – December budget cycle.
The Senate, in the Committee of the Whole, considered the recommendations of the report, which was, thereafter, adopted in plenary and read for a third time, thereby signalling its passage by the Senate.
In his remarks after the passage of the bill, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who presided over the session, commended the Finance Committee Chairman, the standing committees’ chairmen and all members present for their contributions to its passage.
He also expressed hope that the budget would be used:in moving Nigeria forward.
